Anybody who follows Deadspin knows that they have purchased a Hall of Fame vote from one of the BBWAA members anonymously. They are letting the readers decide who gets their vote. Top 10 players by "yes" percentage get the vote.

This looks like a hoax. Maybe it's not. If it is, it would be an easy hoax to execute, requiring only a disregard for ethics. The seller of the vote has to remain anonymous. Otherwise the ballot wouldn't be counted. It the seller of the ballot is anonymous, no one really knows if he or she ever existed.

This looks like a hoax. Maybe it's not. If it is, it would be an easy hoax to execute, requiring only a disregard for ethics. The seller of the vote has to remain anonymous. Otherwise the ballot wouldn't be counted. It the seller of the ballot is anonymous, no one really knows if he or she ever existed.

They're going to reveal who the seller is after the votes have been collected, tabulated, and revealed. As they said, the Ultimate Prize would be for someone to be elected to the HOF by a single vote and have that person be on the sold ballot. Would love to see what would happen if that were the case.

They're going to reveal who the seller is after the votes have been collected, tabulated, and revealed. As they said, the Ultimate Prize would be for someone to be elected to the HOF by a single vote and have that person be on the sold ballot. Would love to see what would happen if that were the case.

I know they said that, but I'm guessing something will go wrong to change their plans and it won't happen. If revealed, the BBWAA could void the ballot even after the results are announced because this doesn't have the blessing of the BBWAA or baseball. The voter would probably lose his/her future votes, which he/she probably doesn't care about. The reality is, though, it probably won't matter. I can't recall anyone being elected by one vote The closest Hall of Fame election I can recall was Nellie Fox falling two votes short in his final year of eligibility.

This looks more like an exercise is showing that no matter how much people complain about the BBWAA voting for the Hall of Fame, putting the decision in the hands of the people doing the complaining would be worse.

This looks more like an exercise is showing that no matter how much people complain about the BBWAA voting for the Hall of Fame, putting the decision in the hands of the people doing the complaining would be worse.

Yeah, BBWAA members have previously cast votes for guys like B.J. Surhoff, Matt Williams, and Brad Radke, we can't have peons spoil this sacred tradition!

In reality, I think we all know this will be pointless, it's more of a sideshow in the neverending story of how ridiculous and increasingly irrelevant the BBWAA and HOF are.

Anyway, I would assume the sold vote either belongs to Jay Mariotti (who is still in the BBWAA for some reason and hey, could probably use the money) or Lisa Olson, who has never voted since joining because she amazingly has the ethical standards to realize journalists voting for the players they cover is a ridiculous conflict of interest. She turns in a blank ballot every year, anyway, so why not make a little coin off the thing?

I sincerely doubt it is a hoax, I don't see what Deadspin gains by that, but even if so, watching crusty old baseball writers lose their mind over it is worth the price of admission alone. And hey, I got to vote for the Hall of Fame. That's pretty cool.

I know they said that, but I'm guessing something will go wrong to change their plans and it won't happen. If revealed, the BBWAA could void the ballot even after the results are announced because this doesn't have the blessing of the BBWAA or baseball. The voter would probably lose his/her future votes, which he/she probably doesn't care about. The reality is, though, it probably won't matter. I can't recall anyone being elected by one vote The closest Hall of Fame election I can recall was Nellie Fox falling two votes short in his final year of eligibility.

This looks more like an exercise is showing that no matter how much people complain about the BBWAA voting for the Hall of Fame, putting the decision in the hands of the people doing the complaining would be worse.

The point of this exercise is not to try to actually vote somebody in. Ray Durham is not making the Hall even with this vote, and Maddux et al will make it regardless of this vote. The point is to expose the ridiculousness of the system. I read that there are 3 writers for some golfing website that have memberships and vote. Does that make any sense?

I just think it's cool that I got to cast a vote. If Ray Ray doesn't get in, it won't be my fault!

Yeah, BBWAA members have previously cast votes for guys like B.J. Surhoff, Matt Williams, and Brad Radke, we can't have peons spoil this sacred tradition!

In reality, I think we all know this will be pointless, it's more of a sideshow in the neverending story of how ridiculous and increasingly irrelevant the BBWAA and HOF are.

Anyway, I would assume the sold vote either belongs to Jay Mariotti (who is still in the BBWAA for some reason and hey, could probably use the money) or Lisa Olson, who has never voted since joining because she amazingly has the ethical standards to realize journalists voting for the players they cover is a ridiculous conflict of interest. She turns in a blank ballot every year, anyway, so why not make a little coin off the thing?

I sincerely doubt it is a hoax, I don't see what Deadspin gains by that, but even if so, watching crusty old baseball writers lose their mind over it is worth the price of admission alone. And hey, I got to vote for the Hall of Fame. That's pretty cool.

When the All-Star vote was returned to fans in 1970, baseball found itself with a lot of write-ins for Mickey Mantle, who wasn't on the ballot. Mickey Mantle had retired after the 1968 season. The All-Star Game voting has been going downhill ever since, and I don't see many people defending the process.

There are some crusty old baseball writers in the BBWAA. There are some crusty old fans. As a group, baseball writers get more respect from me than fans do.

Maybe this isn't a hoax. Maybe it isn't contrived to show how idiotic some fans are. But it isn't like B.J. Surhoff was elected to the Hall of Fame or even got more than one vote. And it isn't like Jim Rice wouldn't have been elected to the Hall of Fame if it were in the hands of the fans. For the faults with the Hall of Fame voting, taking it out of the hands of the BBWAA, would be worse, unless you left it entirely in the hands of the Veterans Committee.

There is nothing unethical about baseball writers determining the Hall of Fame. It's a fairly traditional process. There is something unethical about selling your vote.

I wouldn't have any problem putting the Hall of Fame into the hands of people 50 or older who have been posting for at least 10 years. But reading some of the threads here, especially this Konerko re-signing thread, I would hate to put it into the hands of everyone who posts at WSI.

When the All-Star vote was returned to fans in 1970, baseball found itself with a lot of write-ins for Mickey Mantle, who wasn't on the ballot. Mickey Mantle had retired after the 1968 season. The All-Star Game voting has been going downhill ever since, and I don't see many people defending the process.

There are some crusty old baseball writers in the BBWAA. There are some crusty old fans. As a group, baseball writers get more respect from me than fans do.

Maybe this isn't a hoax. Maybe it isn't contrived to show how idiotic some fans are. But it isn't like B.J. Surhoff was elected to the Hall of Fame or even got more than one vote. And it isn't like Jim Rice wouldn't have been elected to the Hall of Fame if it were in the hands of the fans. For the faults with the Hall of Fame voting, taking it out of the hands of the BBWAA, would be worse, unless you left it entirely in the hands of the Veterans Committee.

There is nothing unethical about baseball writers determining the Hall of Fame. It's a fairly traditional process. There is something unethical about selling your vote.

I wouldn't have any problem putting the Hall of Fame into the hands of people 50 or older who have been posting for at least 10 years. But reading some of the threads here, especially this Konerko re-signing thread, I would hate to put it into the hands of everyone who posts at WSI.

I don't have a problem with baseball writers voting for the Hall of Fame. It's golf writers and idiots like Jay Mariotti that I do have an issue with.

Big Frank's write-up. I'm not sure why the two White Sox were the first two written up, probably a coincidence. The comments make it seem like he has the national fan opinion on his side anyway. I voted for him, naturally.